There continues to be a need for improving ophthalmic illuminators used in ophthalmic surgery. Current ophthalmic illuminators utilize white light sources such as tungsten filament bulbs, halogen bulbs, and/or High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps such as metal halide and Xenon lamps. However, there are many drawbacks to using the current ophthalmic illuminators.
For example, the bulbs and lamps used in current ophthalmic illuminators have a short life time. Because the bulbs and lamps burn out every 30-400 hours, they often burn out during a surgical procedure. Thus, such failures increase the risk of harm to the patient because of the immediate lack of light and the interruption of surgery. The bulb replacement cost is also very high in current ophthalmic endo illuminators.
Furthermore, these bulbs and lamps generate substantial amounts of heat such that current ophthalmic endo illuminators have to be made of components capable of withstanding high temperature. Because of the heat produced by the bulbs and lamps used in current ophthalmic illuminators a cooling fan is implemented within the illuminator which adds to the cost of production/use as well as increases the bulkiness/size of the illuminator. This fan also generates substantial levels of noise in the operating room. In use, these bulbs and lamps take a certain time period to warm up (e.g. tungsten filament to reach thermal equilibrium) during which the color and brightness produced by the ophthalmic illuminator changes.
No LED ophthalmic endo illuminators currently exist, but an RGB scheme has been proposed that mixes at least three monochromatic light sources such that illuminator produces a light having adjustable color, including white. Mixing three or more monochromatic light sources to produce a given light would require a complicated optical scheme in order for the three or more monochromatic light sources to be appropriately mixed. Additionally, the more monochromic light sources an ophthalmic illuminator is required to have to operate correctly the more opportunity there is for problems to occur if one of the light sources stops working. As compared to existing endo illuminators, any proposed LED endo illuminator should have a longer LED light source lifetime and “instant on” capability.
Accordingly, there remains a need for ophthalmic endo illuminators devices and methods for using during ocular surgery that use less than three monochromatic light sources, improve the quality of illumination (e.g. brightness and/or color), reduce the generation of heat and noise during use, increase reliability of the instrument during a surgical procedure, and extend the life span of the light source to eliminate any bulb replacement issues.